


Hey, Jealousy!

by thiamislife_thiamislove



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: 90'S, AU, M/M, Nineties, Sort Of, Therek subtext, Thiam, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-08
Updated: 2018-08-28
Packaged: 2019-06-19 20:25:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,089
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15517893
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thiamislife_thiamislove/pseuds/thiamislife_thiamislove
Summary: While investigating a dark cult, Theo and Liam find themselves trapped in a 1996 Beacon Hills during a lunar eclipse.Can the decade of grunge, Surge, and bleepy dial-up reignite their relationship? Stay tuned!





	1. Black Hole Sun

Chapter 1: Black Hole Sun

 

 

The golden rays of the setting late-September sun cast long shadows against the front façade of the Beacon Hills Animal Clinic as Liam made his way through the entrance. Leaves blew across the almost vacant parking lot. It was a Sunday, so officially the clinic was closed. Supernatural emergencies only.

Opening the door to the very familiar back-office the acting alpha of Beacon Hills was greeted by the waiting figures of Dr. Deaton, Derek Hale, and . . . Theo?

 

“What’s he doing here?!” Liam immediately demanded of the emissary

“Funny, I was just asking myself the same thing” Theo said in turn as he glared at the veterinarian to his left

 

“Gentlemen, please contain yourselves; right now, I need you to focus on the pressing matters at hand” Deaton advised, trying his best to impart some of his calm onto the two youths in front of him.

 

“Mr. Raeken is with us this evening in more of an official support capacity, as despite your recent differences, he is still your anchor Liam” Deaton continued

 

“Lucky me” Theo muttered, quickly earning himself a slap on the back of his head from Derek

 

“I’ve been doing fine on my own” Liam growled defensively, as if trying convince himself of his lie; he hated knowing that Deaton was right.

 

Try as he might to find another anchor, nobody else grounded Liam the way Theo Raeken did; nobody else could dispel his anger with just a single touch. Theo had stayed around in the months after the fight with the Anuk-Ite; but as Liam and the others began to prepare for life after high-school, Theo started growing evermore distant. It started with a missed pack meeting here and there, until it became such that he hardly ever showed up. When he did make an appearance, the chimera was constantly volunteering for missions that had him leaving Beacon Hills, often completely by himself.  It had been over six months since Liam had seen his supposed anchor; the last that he had heard was something about Theo going with Derek to Saskatchewan in Canada.

Liam resented Theo for avoiding him, and his wolf hated the chimera for constantly leaving him, for abandoning him; but Liam’s real anger at the moment was directed towards himself, for that tiny part within him that was secretly happy to see Theo and desperately yearned to feel his calming touch. It wasn’t fair.

 

“So, you know what tonight is then, right?” Derek asked doubtful of the younger wolf’s diligence when it came to tracking astronomical phenomenon.

 

“Uh, Sunday?” the acting-alpha tried, knowing full well he was likely forgetting something of great import.

 

Derek Hale sighed loudly from where he stood in the room, arms still folded across his chest, “Theo?” he asked giving the other boy a chance to answer

 

Theo looked past Liam and over to the other two men standing on the other side of the room, “it’s a full-moon, right?” he tried, squinting his eyes slightly and raising one eyebrow. Not being a real werewolf meant he didn’t really have to keep track of the moon cycles, but it seemed almost too obvious an answer to not be right. Why else would Deaton have made such a big deal about Liam needing his anchor?

 

 

“Not just any full moon” the emissary began, an almost eager excitement seemed to exude from the druid whenever he had the chance to explain something of supernatural significance, even if it was particularly macabre.

“Tonight, September 27th, is the night of a rare occurrence where we not only have a supermoon, but a supermoon that coincides with a total lunar eclipse!” Deaton exclaimed

 

“What a party” Theo muttered sarcastically

 

“Okay so . . . did you guys bring me here to lock me in a cell or something?” Liam asked, this couldn’t possibly be good for his wolf.

 

“Actually, we need you to do some investigating in the preserve” Deaton answered

 

Now Liam was really confused. Why did Deaton want him to go walking around in the woods during some unholy combination of a supermoon and an eclipse.

 

“Argent called me earlier” Derek broke-in, his voice not letting through the slightest trace of emotion, “he’s been following up on some leads about a cult of dark druids” the elder wolf announced

 

“Why do I get the feeling this isn’t going to get better with more details?” Theo asked rhetorically

 

“From the information Chris provided earlier, and the little I could find within the lore, I believe this particular cult of darachs is seeking to harness control of the moon’s power over supernaturals through a series of connected ritual sacrifices” the emissary finished explaining

 

“Why can’t it just be puppies for once” Liam lamented,

 

“What?!” Theo and Derek both exclaimed in unison, both wearing equally confused expressions.

 

“Like I don’t know maybe somebody is trying to get a puppy, and then like, we help them get one?” Liam tried to elaborate on his earlier outburst, but only succeeded in further entrenching his foot within his mouth and eliciting more confused stares from Theo and Derek before the two of them turned to glare at each other in another one of their “silent arguments”.

 

The look in Derek’s eyes clearly saying “your fell for that idiot?”, and Theo’s eyes replying with “your former beta is the one that bit him”.

 

“Moving on” Deaton said while clearing his throat and attempting to bring the conversation back to the matter at hand, “We have reason to believe that with tonight’s supermoon eclipse, cult members may be organizing something in the Preserve this evening; probably close to midnight for peak liminality” he finished

 

“So, I’m guessing this is where you ask both of us to go for a moonlit stroll through the woods?” Theo remarked smugly, a pained smirk crossed his face as he turned his gaze from Deaton to Derek

 

“Essentially” Derek replied tersely

 

“W-What do we do if we find them?” Liam asked finally, breaking the tension between the other wolf and the chimera

 

“Nothing” Derek answered

 

“Call us first if you find _anything_ ” Deaton instructed, “we’re not fully sure just what they’re capable of” he added

 

“Works for me” Theo replied, “Meet up at the Preserve just before midnight?” he asked turning to Liam, catching the other boy a little off guard. It had been so long since that hauntingly raspy, deep voice had been directed at him.

 

“Oh, ah, sure” Liam agreed, momentarily forgetting that he was supposed to be angry at the other boy.

 

“Looks like everything is settled then” Deaton announced; as he closed the cover of the lore book on the metal examination table and concluded the meeting.

 

The four of them parted ways as they left the clinic, Theo and Derek through the back door, Deaton and Liam taking the front entrance.

\-------

 

Theo leaned against the side of his truck, parked just in front of the entrance to the Beacon Hills Nature Preserve.

 _Ten minutes before midnight_ , he noted to himself after checking the time on his phone for the millionth time.

Sighing dramatically, he slipped it back into the front pocket of his jeans as he continued to wait for the arrival of his assigned partner for the evening.

 _This was probably all Derek’s stupid idea anyway_ , Theo thought to himself, _Liam doesn’t need me here. Derek’s probably just trying to get back at me for that time I made him_. . .

The grumpy chimera’s thoughts were interrupted by a distant noise approaching the Preserve

 

He cocked his head as he tried to focus on the deep rumble that managed to pull him out of his brooding.

There, in the distance, a beat-up late-model Ford Bronco chugged its way towards the designated rendezvous.

 

Pulling up just beside the dark blue Tundra, Liam turned off the headlights and cut the engine. A loud *BANG* echoed through the dirt parking lot as the older vehicle back-fired. Liam climbed out of the driver’s side door, trying to shut it as carefully as possible; whether out of fear it would fall off, or attempting to balance the earlier noise, Theo was uncertain but he managed to greet his former friend and pack-mate with an unamused glare.

 

“Sorry!” Liam started to hastily apologize. He remembered that Theo had a thing about punctuality. “I had to pick something up on the way” he added.

 

“and here I thought you were going to stand me up!” Theo teased with a sarcastic smirk, arms folded over his chest while he continued to lean against his truck

 

“Well, you’re sort of the expert on that!” Liam shouted back.

 

Theo’s demeanor immediately changed, and the chimera spun around on his heels with a hurt sounding huff. Tempted as he was to give his own barbed reply, Theo bit his tongue. He knew he deserved that one.

 

Liam caught himself, he could feel the anger swelling inside making his cheeks red. _The eclipse is affecting me more than I thought_ he concluded to himself trying to brush it off.

The slam of the passenger side door brought him out of his thoughts. Nolan emerged from the Bronco with his crossbow and quiver slung over his shoulder.

“Are-Are you okay?” he asked the acting-alpha worriedly

 

“I’m fine” Liam half-snarled, before clearing his throat and internally reciting his mantra for the billionth time

 

The young hunter ally nervously gestured towards the other boy’s clenched fists, “I-is that . .. .blood?”

 

Liam didn’t need to look down to know the truth, he didn’t need his supernaturally enhanced hearing to pick-up the sound of the droplets watering the earth below, the accompanying bitter metallic sting burning his nostrils.

“It’s just the moon, I’ll be fine” Liam tried to reassure his pack-mate and former co-captain

 

“Are you sure? I mean maybe Theo could help?” Nolan tried again,

 

“I said I’m fine” Liam growled as he began to walk toward the trailhead, where the chimera was impatiently pacing. “C’mon, lets go!” he ordered.

 

Nolan hurried along to catch up with the other two boys as they began their patrol deep into the Beacon Hills woods.

 

\-------

 

“Did you _really_ have to bring him along?” Theo groaned as they trudged their way through the preserve.

 

“I wanted to help!” Nolan called out, stumbling behind the other two boys

 

“See? He just wanted to help” Liam said, in a mocking tone, to Theo as they continued trying to make as little noise as possible while walking over the dry fallen leaves that littered the ground of the Preserve

 

“I think you just brought him along to annoy me” Theo continued entertaining his little conspiracy

 

They both turned around when they heard a sudden crash, Liam ducked just in time to dodge a bolt loosed from the dropped crossbow, as Nolan tumbled face first into a brush pile.

 

“He literally just tripped over his own feet!” Theo argued, intent on proving they could get on fine without Nolan out there

 

“Hey, it’s not my fault! You guys have werewolf vision!” Nolan protested, as he stood up and brushed the leaves and dirt off of himself.

 

“He has a point Theo” Liam countered, subtly enjoying the chimera’s rising irritation 

 

“Whatever, let’s just get this over with” Theo growled

 

The three youths took a moment look on in wonder at the blood red hue of the supermoon hanging overhead, as it undertook its passage through the Earth’s umbra. As ominous as it appeared, there was something darkly beautiful about the way the eclipse colored the normally silver white moon.

 

Liam broke his focus from the moon and shook his head back, before sniffing the air a second time. “Theo, do you smell that?” he asked, hoping that his mind was deceiving him

 

Theo stopped and scented the air “blood” was all the chimera said as he looked at the other two boys, “come on, this way” he ordered as he quickened his pace

 

Liam had soon overtaken him as they practically sprinted towards the source of the smell. They were quite deep in the Preserve by this point, well beyond any familiar landmarks or trail signs.

 

Skidding to a sudden stop Liam and Theo both looked out at where their path had led them.

There, right in front of them, under the crimson light of the eclipse, a dark hooded figure was chanting and making symbols with his finger over the base of what could only be the nemeton

 

As if suddenly aware of the newly arrived intruders, the figure looked up at the wolf and chimera. Its eyes glowed slightly, as it continued to chant.

 

Liam stood frozen in place, staring at the dark druid as it continued drawing with the blood that was dripping from the palm of its hand. His fangs showed and he began to snarl at the being.

 

“I think we should go” Theo called out to Liam as he watched the figure slowly start to rise, one hand moving towards its side.

 

Fifteen seconds until midnight.

 

“Like as in now!” he shouted, trying to get the other boy’s attention. _The moon must be getting to him_ , he thought. “Come on Liam!” he shouted again as he started to turn away

 

By this point Nolan had stumbled onto the scene that was unfolding; he raised his crossbow but there wasn’t a clear line of sight on the darach

 

“I-I think you’re right” Liam stammered as he began to slowly turn in towards the same direction.

 

By now the figure had withdrawn something from inside its cloak and was now aiming it squarely at Liam

 

Five seconds until midnight

 

Theo’s eyes immediately widened. _That looks like a Ghost Rider pistol_ , he thought to himself in horror.

 

Acting more on impulse than on logic, he leapt forward and tackled the beta in an effort to knock him out of the line of fire, or at least attempt to shield the younger boy with himself.

 

Right as his body collided with Liam’s, he felt a bullet from the pistol tear through his side

 

Midnight.

 

At that exact moment, the figure slammed its blood covered palm onto the symbols it had painted on nemeton and Theo and Liam vanished in a blinding red flash of light.

 

Nolan didn’t know what to do. He watched as the figure twisted and fell to the ground beside the cursed stump.

Bringing his crossbow up to his shoulder, he took aim at the dark druid before him

“D-Don’t move!” he ordered, summoning every ounce of courage he had to try to sound authoritative

 

The figure didn’t react, it just coughed and wheezed from the place where it had fallen.

 

With a free hand, Nolan pulled out his phone from his pocket and hastily dialed the number he had been given to Deaton’s cell. How was he possibly going to explain any of this?

 

 

\-------

 

 

 

Theo opened his eyes to find an unfortunately familiar sight before him. Feeling the cold steel of the rows of refrigerated mortuary chambers along his back, he cautiously rose to his feet. The fluorescent lights hummed above the empty autopsy table that occupied the center of the room. The scent of formaldehyde tinged the air.

 

He knew where he was.

 

Back where he was supposed to be. Where he _deserved_ to be. The inescapable specter that occupied his every nightmare. His inevitable fate, once again here to greet him.

 

Now all that was left was to wait. Wait for her to call out for him. _Theeeeeooooo!_

He could practically hear her already. The voice that provided him unyielding torment almost every time he closed his eyes.

 

His breath ran unsteady, his left eye twitched in an involuntary spasm as tears began to flow down his cheeks. Any minute now she would be calling for him, come to claim what was rightfully hers

 

_“♪ Call my name, through the cream; and I’ll hear you scream again ♪”_

 

Theeeooo, he said to himself; trying to prepare himself for his new eternity

 

_“♪ Black hole sun, won’t you come ♪”_

_“Wait, is that . . . music?”_ Theo thought to himself as he began to take in more of his surroundings.

 

“Theo, are you alright?!” a voice that could only belong to a certain beta echoed from the other side of the entrance doors to the Beacon Hills Memorial morgue.

 

_“♪ and my youth I pray to keep, Heaven send Hell away ♪”_

“Liam?!” Theo shouted back in equal measure shock and surprise as he burst through the double-door entrance to find the boy he thought he had just died for.

 

“WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?!” Theo immediately demanded of the boy standing in front of him in the completely empty hospital hallway.

 

Liam simply shrugged, an uncertain expression spread across his face as he shifted his eyes from right to left before letting out a barely intelligible “Idunnuh?”

 

“You’re not real!” the chimera accused, shaking his head in disbelief as he jabbed his right index finger firmly into Liam’s chest

 

“Ow! That hurt, asshole!” the beta cried out as he shoved the other back twice as hard

 

“You can’t be here!” Theo shouted again, trying to rationalize in his mind how Liam managed to break into his own personal hell. This had to be some kind of twisted trick that his sister was playing on him.

 

“Well I am here, so deal with it!” Liam shouted back. He could feel his tempter rising, he had about had it with Theo’s on again off again bullshit.

 

Theo just stared off down the vacant hallway of the hospital before fixing his gaze to the ceiling

 

“Or just ignore me and run off again like you always do” Liam said, for what he assumed to be mostly his own benefit. It was clear Theo wasn’t listening to him. Again.

 

“Shut-up Liam” Theo ordered as he continued staring intensely at the ceiling

 

Liam growled at the other boy. That’s it, he was going to kill him for real this time.

 

Right as Liam was trying to retract his claws from digging into his palms, Theo cocked his head to the side “Do you hear that?” he asked clearly trying to isolate the sound

 

“Hear what?” Liam huffed, before craning his neck to try to hear what Theo was getting at

 

_“♪ drown my fear, till you all just disappear ♪”_

 

“That” Theo said once he saw the look on Liam’s face that indicated the beta had picked up on the music echoing through the building as well

 

_“♪ Black hole sun, won’t you come? ♪”_

 

“They don’t have music in hell, Liam” Theo observed, now slightly more concerned than before. _If this isn’t hell, then where am I . . . where are, we?_ He thought to himself.

 

“You thought you were back in hell?” Liam asked, disbelief quickly passing into concern as remembered how Theo froze in the morgue before, “Oh” he offered before puzzling the matter some more

 

A rush of anger then rose through to the surface, “Wait a second, why would _I_ be in your hell?!” Liam demanded, feeling suddenly very much offended

 

“Don’t flatter yourself” Theo jeered. The older boy immediately quieted up and then looked away to stare at the tile floor.

 _He looks so . . . vulnerable_ Liam thought to himself.

 

Walking up beside him, Liam gently clasped his hand on Theo’s shoulder. “Theo” he called out softly, “why would you think I would be in your hell?” he asked again, this time out of concern for his former friend.

 

“I-I thought she might be” Theo stammered a bit, still locked in his futile staring contest with the hospital floor, “I thought she might appearing as someone else, as you, to trick me.” Theo answered before adding “to make it hurt more” and then finally bringing his fear filled green eyes to meet Liam’s worried blues.

 

Liam nodded, “Well good news is that we’re not in hell. I’m still Liam, and you’re still very much your complicated self” he teased

 

Theo snorted and shook his head causing a strand of hair that had fallen across his brow to fall out of his line of sight.

 

“Let’s just find out where everyone else went and go from there, okay?” Liam suggested, trying to offer something tangible for the other boy to focus on, to get his mind off past traumas.

 

“Or where _we_ went” Theo coldly observed, before accepting Liam’s hand to pull him to his feet.

 

The two of them made their way down the main hallway of the vacant Beacon Hill Memorial Hospital; not a single person in sight anywhere. Only the sounds of their footsteps and the fading notes of a song neither of them could place echoing into the background.

 

 

\-------

 

 

Dr. Deaton and Derek Hale had showed up shortly after Nolan called. Derek helped bind the hooded practitioner and secure him in the back of the clinic van the veterinarian had driven in.

 

The emissary took a few moments to photograph the desecrated nemeton before pondering the matter in silence, while Nolan recounted his turn of events to Derek.

 

“A flash of red light, you say?” Deaton asked, finally breaking from his quiet

 

Nolan nodded, traces of fear and shock still lingering in his eyes

 

“And then they just disappeared?” he asked again, only to receive an equally affirmative nod from the young hunter turned ally

 

“There are no other sets of footprints. These don’t seem to lead anywhere” Derek observed as he surveyed the tracks of Liam and Theo around the nemeton.

 

“These symbols seem to be indicative of some sort of transference ritual” Deaton mused aloud while gesturing at the crude blood markings on the stump

 

“What does that even mean?” Derek asked

 

“Are Liam and Theo alright?” Nolan added, very much worried for his adoptive packmates

 

“I’m hoping our _friend_ might be able to shed some more light on what happened when he wakes up” Deaton replied gesturing towards the back of the van

“Derek, there are some things that I will need to collect first from the clinic; but I was thinking it might be safest if we carried out the interrogation from one of Argent’s bunkers”

 

The older wolf nodded in firm agreement. “Chris left me a spare set of keys; we’ll secure him there and then you can circle back to clinic to pick up your supplies” he replied

 

The three of them then began to set about their task. Theo and Liam were out there somewhere, and it was up to them to get them back.

 

\-------

 

“All these cars parked out here, but not a single person” Theo observed aloud as the two boys made their way down the street. They had almost reached the Beacon Hills sheriff’s station.

 

‘Well, it _is_ Beacon Hills” Liam began, “not exactly the greatest place to be caught outside after dark” he countered

 

Theo hummed in agreement. It was a fair point, but even so, the town seemed eerily quiet, too quiet.

 

“Well, at least we didn’t miss the eclipse!” Liam said, trying to find a silver lining as he pointed up at the red tinted moon sitting above them in the night sky

 

“What a relief!” the chimera replied sarcastically.

 

“Asshole” Liam muttered under his breath as the pair kept walking.

 

Eventually the two of them found themselves at the Beacon Hills Sheriff’s Station.

 

“Now that’s weird” Theo spoke up as they reached the front doors of the building.

 

Liam didn’t like it, but he had to agree with Theo’s point. The station, like the hospital, also appeared to be completely empty. There wasn’t a single light on, or deputy milling about inside the building that he could see.

“Maybe they’re all out on patrol or something” Liam tried again.

 

Theo smiled for a brief moment, it felt funny to hear _Liam_ _Dunbar_ trying to be the voice of reason and logic.

“That parking lot is full of squad-cars, so unless they all carpooled . . ..” Theo trailed off

 

Brushing it aside, he opened the front door to the station and stepped up to the front desk.

 

Empty.

 

Looking to the wall above the phone, he glanced down the clipboard with the duty roster for September 27th.

“I don’t see Parrish or anyone else I recognize” Theo remarked to Liam, as the other boy followed up to his side

“None of these names look familiar. . . oh wait here’s one!” Theo exclaimed

 

Liam looked to where Theo’s finger was pointing on the page.

“Deputy John Stilinski” Liam read aloud, emphasizing the title for the man he had only ever know as Sheriff Stilinski.

 

“ _Deputy_ Stilinski?!”


	2. In the Meantime

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Liam and Theo look for clues about where they are. There's something off about that radio . . .

Chapter 2: In the Meantime

 

“This has to be a mistake” Liam shouted in disbelief, “maybe Stiles is doing another internship here at the station and they made a typo or something maybe. . .” he trailed off, desperately trying to come up with a logical reason for the apparent demotion of Sheriff Stilinski

 

“I don’t think it’s a typo Liam” Theo said from a desk further along in the station.

He brought a brass nameplate up with his right hand for the other boy to see.

 

There, in plain embossed letters, it clearly spelled out “Dep. John Stilinski”

 

Liam shook his head, “maybe the rest of the station dug it out for like a retirement gift or something” he tried again

 

“Sheriff mention anything about retiring to you lately?” Theo asked doubtfully, narrowing his eyes

 

“Thought not” he answered in response to the silence from the beta

 

Liam frowned and shuffled his feet nervously from where he was standing at the front desk of the station. “Oh yeah, like you’ve got a better idea!” he challenged

 

Theo set the nameplate back on the desk, “I might have a theory” he mused without looking up, tracing his finger lazily over the brass letters one more time.

 

Liam waited for Theo to elaborate, but the chimera seemed far more interested in continuing his exploration of the deputy’s desk.

 

“Are you going to share with the class, or just keep it to yourself?” Liam asked breaking the silence and growing steadily more irritated at the other boy.

 

Theo continued his examination of the handful of personal effects on the desk, still not making eye contact with Liam.

 

“Might be wrong” he hummed while picking up a framed picture with a rather young-looking John Stilinski beside a hospital bed with a woman who he assumed was his wife cradling an infant Stiles in her arms.

 

Liam huffed in annoyance at Theo’s coy reticence, “Well either spit it out, or don’t! It’s been a long night, and I’m not really in the mood for your stupid games Theo!” he shouted

 

Theo finally met Liam’s eyes with his own. Setting the picture back down on the desk, he sighed heavily and took a step towards the other boy. “What’s the last thing you remember before waking up in the hospital?” he asked

 

“What did I _just_ say about not playing games?!” Liam asked incredulously; _unbelievable_ he thought to himself, _I’m going to punch his nose so hard-_

 

Unperturbed by Liam’s anger, Theo continued on; “I’m serious Liam, what is the last thing you remember?” he asked again

 

Liam thought for a moment, “I remember you tackling me, for one” he muttered accusingly before folding his arms across his chest and glaring even more angrily at Theo.

 

“I risked my life for you! You ungrateful little sh-” Theo paused for moment and took a deep a breath, trying to calm himself and reign in his emotions. How Liam was somehow able to subvert the _years_ of training the Dread Doctors had spent teaching him how to suppress his emotions, was infuriatingly impressive.

 

“The dark figure at the nemeton” Theo started again

 

“Yeah, I remember that” Liam interjected

 

“Great. Do you want a cookie, or would you care to let me finish?” Theo snapped back

 

Liam huffed and looked towards the window of the abandoned sheriff’s station

 

“I’ll take that as a yes” Theo chuckled, “So, _before_ I took a bullet for your little ungrateful werewolf ass; the last thing I remember is seeing that dark druid pull-out what looked like a Ghost Rider pistol” he recalled

 

Liam’s brow furrowed in thought, before his eyes suddenly went as wide as saucers. “So . . . you think we’re . . .” he got out, the words struggling to keep pace with his thoughts

 

“Trapped in a Wild Hunt holding dimension? Yeah, that’s my running theory” Theo said, cutting off Liam’s stuttering

 

Liam stood there, speechless as he mentally processed the implications of what the chimera was proposing

 

“Stiles and Peter said they were stuck in a train station with a bunch of other people, but only the Ghost Riders could get in and out, right?” Theo continued explaining his idea

 

Liam nodded, as he pensively chewed his lower lip. “So we find where they’re keeping everyone else . . .”

 

“ . . . then follow the train tracks to freedom” Theo finished with a half-grin that just barely managed to contain his immense self-contentment

 

Liam thought to himself for another moment. It made sense, the Ghost Rider pistol alternate dimension part at least. As for how and why it connected with a deviant druidic cult and the nemeton, he was still completely in the dark.

 

“So where do we start?” Liam finally asked

 

\-------

 

“We’re really about to steal a cop car?!” Liam asked, a bit stunned (though not entirely unsurprised) by Theo’s blasé attitude and willingness to engage in grand theft auto.

 

Theo shrugged, “wouldn’t be our first time” he smirked as he methodically tried the last bunch of keys Liam had handed him. “At least now you know what a car key looks like” he added

 

“Hey, I was kind of in a bit of a rush that time!” Liam protested from the passenger seat of the Crown Victoria police cruiser

 

“So, you’re saying you don’t perform well under pressure? You know they make a little blue pill for that now, right?” Theo teased while fruitlessly trying yet another key in the ignition.

 

Liam threw the next ring of keys as hard as he could at the side of Theo’s head

 

“Ow! What the-” Theo cried out, bringing his hand up to the key shaped red mark on his cheek. He just barely caught the ring of keys before it would have slid into the crevice between the driver’s seat and the center console. Liam just smiled contentedly and sank down further into the passenger seat with a yawn; the box of keys carefully balanced in his lap on top of his worn Beacon Hills lacrosse hoodie.

 

Finally, after what felt like the millionth attempt, the police cruiser roared to life. Theo looked over to Liam, both boys beaming with excitement at the sound of the car turning on. Without thinking, Theo put his arm over the back of Liam’s seat as he shifted the car into reverse and backed out of the parking spot.

 

Once he had maneuvered the squad car out to the entrance/exit to the police station parking lot, Theo applied the brakes and brought his arm back around from Liam’s seat to the steering wheel somewhat awkwardly. 

“I think we should start at the school” Liam proposed, while moving the sun visor down on the passenger side to help shield his tired eyes from the rising morning sun.

 

Theo hummed in agreement. He hadn’t seen any train tracks when they were in the hospital, and the last time the Wild Hunt rode through Beacon Hills the high school library was where the station appeared.

 

Reaching for the driver’s sun visor, the chimera was pleasantly surprised when a pair of mirrored, police issue aviators dropped down. Putting the sunglasses on, he grinned as he looked at his reflection in the rear-view mirror before turning his smile to Liam.

 

“You’re ridiculous, you know that?” Liam stated while rolling his eyes. Theo amused himself way too easily.

 

It was just after dawn, so the morning air was still somewhat cool. Theo rolled down the windows of the police cruiser. He hovered his finger over the radio button for a brief second, before finally turning it on.

Liam and Theo both jumped a little, as the volume had been left fully up by whoever had played it last, blasting static through the vehicle before Theo adjusted the volume and scanned through the frequencies until he finally found something on the AM side.

 

Theo relaxed a little as he drove the car out onto the street; he rested his left elbow outside the driver’s side door, his fingers on that hand just _barely_ able to reach close enough steady the steering wheel. He tapped along with his right hand to the beat from the intro to “California Love” that was coming though the radio, before diving right into the first verse

 

_“♪_ _Now let me welcome everybody to the wild, wild west_

_A state that's untouchable like Elliot Ness ♪”_

 

Liam just stared at the odd sight of Theo rapping along to the song on the radio, sunglasses barely staying on his face as the chimera bobbed his head back and forth in time with the music, while also gesticulating wildly with his right hand.

 

“Pack a vest for your Jimmy in the city of sex. We in that sunshine state with a bomb ass-” Theo stopped mid-verse as he suddenly became aware of the strange look his passenger was throwing at him, “What?” he asked

 

Liam continued to stare at him as if he had managed to grow a second head. “Nothing, I just . . .” he started

“didn’t know you liked Tupac?” he finished, voice trailing higher on the last few words out of surprise.

 

“It’s not my fault 90’s rap was so legit” Theo replied, completely unapologetically

 

Liam felt painfully aware of just how little he actually knew about Theo’s musical tastes. Come to think of it, he didn’t even recall Theo’s favorite food. Maybe it had just been too long since Theo left. Maybe he had never thought enough to ask when he had the chance.

Liam shook the thoughts from his mind and went back to leaning his head on the shoulder of the passenger seat, such that his forehead was just barely outside the rolled-down window. The rushing air from outside the car caused his bangs to dance playfully across his face.

 

The next thing Liam knew, there was a hand on his shoulder giving his body a firm, but rude, shove.

“Liam, wake up, we’re here”

The voice dared to cut through his sleepy bliss.

Keeping his eyes shut, he tried to shrug off the grip of whoever was daring to interrupt his slumber.

“Five more minutes” he mumbled, lips so paralyzed by sleep they could barely form the words

 

“Come on Liam, you can sleep when we’re back home” Theo shoved again

Liam just grunted non-committedly in response, clearly indicating that he had no intention of departing dreamland anytime soon.

Theo rolled his eyes and huffed in frustration. _Typical Liam “sleep through a freight train” Dunbar_ he thought to himself.

Looking down at the control console for the police cruiser, he hovered his fingers over the switches for the lights and sirens, before glancing over at the Liam one more time; a sinister smirk accompanying the sudden thought running through his mind..

“Last chance, and don’t say I didn’t warn you” he threatened

 

Liam ignored him.

 

Or, he ignored him until the moment when the car was suddenly filled with the blaring sound of police sirens, and blindingly bright red, white, and blue flashing lights through the windows.

 

“Alright, alright! I’m up!” Liam yelled over the sirens, while covering his sensitive ears with his hands.

 

“You sure? ‘Cause I can leave these on for a bit if you’re still feeling a little sleepy?” Theo mocked with a stupid grin spread across his face, sunglasses barely resting on the bridge of his nose.

 

The answer came in the form of the beta slamming a clenched fist through the control console, violently terminating the offending lights and sounds. The sirens slowly wound down, dropping in pitch each time, before finally emitting their death gasp in an almost cartoonish “whomp” noise.

_He’s lucky that wasn’t his nose_ he thought to himself, trying to rub the sleep out of his eyes with his other hand

 

“Guess it’s true what they say then” Theo offered

 

“What?” Liam asked, as he undid his seatbelt

 

“That it’s better to let sleeping dogs lie” Theo replied, before quickly bolting out of the car before Liam had time to land a deserving punch

 

Liam sat in the passenger seat for a moment longer, pinching the bridge of his nose between his eyes in reaction to the headache from the sirens. _If I kill him in a Ghost Rider universe, and there’s no one around to see it, does it count as murder?_ He half-jokingly pondered before climbing out of the police car.

 

There before him, bathed in the bright light of the rising dawn, surrounded by perfectly edged sidewalks, and blades of dew-laden grass glittering in the sunlight, stood the very familiar entrance to Beacon Hills High School.

 

 The two boys walked through the front entrance, not the least bit surprised to find the doors unlocked. Some things never change.

 

“Well, no railroad tracks yet” Theo observed aloud as they walked down the main hallway. Liam took in his surroundings as they leisurely made their way towards the school library.

It smelled exactly the same as he remembered. These were the same lockers he had seen a thousand times before. Everything _seemed_ the same; but somehow it also felt very different.

 

Approaching their intended destination, Theo went ahead and held open the door to the high school library “betas first” he smirked while making a mocking curtsey.

 

Liam glared at Theo and made sure to give the door an extra hard push as he walked through it. The heavy wooden door slammed into the chimera’s face, causing blood to start pouring out of his nose.

“This is why chivalry is dead” he winced, as he made his way to follow Liam into the library, while holding his nose with his free hand.

 

Theo started looking around the library, while Liam was busy investigating the floor for evidence of Ghost Riders.

“Does this place look a little off to you?” Theo asked while walking past a table with a few books and magazines spread across it.

Turning to the massive oak cabinet to his left, Theo puzzled at all of the tiny drawers that it held, each with a little knob at its center, and a small display card right above with scribbled writing on it.

Opening one of the mini-drawers, he became ever more confused as it was filled with hundreds of neatly filed index cards.

“Have they always had a card catalog?” Theo asked

 

“What? I mean, I don’t know, never really paid attention I guess” Liam answered, “I’m still not seeing any train tracks” he called out

 

Looking over to the desks lining the wall, Theo paused, his eyes widened. “Liam . . .” he said, shock setting in

 

“No tickets or leaves” Liam continued on about his so far futile search

 

“Liam I think.  . .” Theo said again

 

“No wait stations, not even a set of hoof prints!” Liam shouted in frustration

 

“Liam look!” Theo yelled pointing at the wall

 

“What” the beta sighed in annoyance, and then he saw the other boy was looking at. “What are those doing here?” he puzzled, marveling at the machines sitting at the desks lining the far side of the library.

 

There, sitting neatly on oak tables, were a row of immaculate white keyboards, towers, and computer monitors the size of the old tube style television set that Liam was sure his mom still had stashed somewhere in the basement.

 

Walking up to the mysteriously resurrected technological dinosaurs, the two youths stared strangely at the antiquated machines.

“Theo, these look brand new!” Liam said in disbelief

“I know” Theo replied, still trying to figure out how this fit into his theory

 

Liam ran his finger across the edge of the screen, finding a large circular button, he pushed it in and then quickly withdrew his finger.

Nothing happened.

He tried pushing the button on the screen again. Still nothing.

“I think it’s broken”

 

Theo pushed the power key on the computer, causing the screen to flash black and series of screeching noises and fan sounds to emanate from within the chassis. “It’s not broken, you just have to turn the computer _and_ the monitor on separately” the chimera corrected with a roll of his eyes

 

Liam was about to ask why, but like the answer to many of the sources of Theo’s arcane knowledge and habits, _Dread Doctors_ flashed through his mind.

 

“It’s still not doing anything” Liam muttered impatiently

 

“Easy, just give it a minute little wolf” Theo hummed, arms now folded across his chest

Suddenly a loud start-up noise rang and a pixelated looking Windows icon appeared on the screen against a light blue background with some clouds, the words “Windows 95” appeared in black beneath the colorful square.

 

“Windows 95?!” Liam gasped.

Mason was always the one who was good with computers. Sure, Liam could _use_ a computer, but he wouldn’t consider himself super tech-literate. He remembered the time Mason had once asked what operating system he was using when Liam had called him over in a panic about losing a school project he had been working on. When Liam answered “Microsoft 2010?” he watched Mason’s forehead hit the desk as his friend let out a frustrated groan.

_Guess it’s not so bad Theo’s here then_ , Liam thought to himself

 

Liam watched as the machine slowly booted, his patience draining away as it was taking forever to load.

Theo turned and started to walk towards one of the bookshelves, wearing a particularly determined look upon his face.

 

“Wait! Where are you going?” Liam cried out, “Don’t leave me alone with this thing!” he added with panic in his voice

 

Theo didn’t bother turning around, “Yearbooks.” He answered. “Besides, didn’t you read the poster? Don’t worry, it doesn’t byte” he laughed upon finally reaching the shelf and pulling out a few books.

 

Liam gulped and started to stand up from the desk. The computer let out a loud BLLRRRRRRRRRGGGGGEEEEEECCCHHHH, causing the beta to knock over the chair and tumble forward across the library floor.

 

Liam picked himself up from the ground, surprised that the chimera didn’t utter some snarky comment about being graceful or something.

“I’m alright, thanks for asking” Liam called out, almost annoyed that Theo _hadn’t_ insulted him yet.

 

“’ats nice” Theo barely muttered under his breath, seemingly lost in the pages of the yearbook he was holding.

 

“Why are you looking through old yearbooks?” Liam asked quizzically

 

“yep” Theo replied, still not paying any attention to the world outside the covers of the yearbook

 

“Are you even listening?” Liam asked, narrowing his gaze at the clearly oblivious chimera

 

“mmhmm” Theo hummed, still not looking up from his book.

 

“Theo Raeken drives a big truck to compensate for his tiny penis” Liam challenged, folding his arms over his chest contentedly, a satisfied smirk forming across his face.

 

“I think we _both_ know that’s not true” Theo replied smugly, finally looking up from the pages.

 

Liam rolled his eyes and huffed, there was never an easy win with Theo.

“So why are you looking at yearbooks?” he asked for the second time

 

“Trying to figure out where, well I guess technically _when_ , we are” Theo answered before grabbing another book from the shelf.

 

Liam cocked his head to the side, a confused look spread across his face as he re-processed the words the chimera had just uttered. “When?” he puzzled

 

Theo looked over to him. “What’s the most recent yearbook you can find on this shelf?” he challenged,

 

Liam walked over to the bookshelf and quickly scanned through the yearbooks, “I don’t see anything past 1996” he stated, worry rising in his voice.

 

“Exactly” Theo confirmed

 

“I don’t get it” Liam followed, not quite sure he was ready to believe the conclusion where Theo’s logic was leading to

 

“What if those computers actually _are_ brand new? I mean, it fits with everything else we’ve seen so far” Theo started, “all the old cars outside that look like they just rolled off the factory floor?”

 

Liam jumped a little when Theo slammed a yearbook open on the table next to him, “This senior picture of Peter Hale!” the older boy added.

Liam had to fight back the urge to laugh upon seeing the embarrassing photo of Derek’s uncle.

“We’re taking that with us, right? You know, when we get out of here” Liam asked with a sly grin

 

“Totally” Theo answered, as if it was never a question to begin with.

 

Liam let slip an involuntary yawn, his body letting him know that he had been awake for well over 36 hours at this point. How Theo managed to get by on so little sleep was a complete mystery to the beta.

 

“Guess we should find someplace to crash, since there doesn’t seem to be any trace of the Wild Hunt here and you look like you’re about to fall over” Theo calmly observed, “I don’t think either of us want to sleep in the library” he added

Liam nodded in agreement, another yawn less than gracefully escaping his mouth.

The two boys departed the high school library, Liam making sure to leave with the yearbook that had Peter’s picture in it tucked tightly under one arm. On his way out, Liam noticed an almanac sitting atop the circulation counter near the exit. He wasn’t sure why he grabbed it; more out of curiosity than reason he supposed, he flipped through the first few pages as he walked with Theo.

Closing the cover, he followed the other boy to the front entrance of the school.

 

Theo returned the sunglasses to his face upon exiting the school; both boys walked leisurely towards the police cruiser in the parking lot, their shadows much shorter now thanks to the noon sun.

 

They both climbed into cruiser; even with the mess of broken plastic and twisted wires that now replaced the control console for the lights and sirens, the car still roared to life when Theo turned the key. The final guitar chords of Counting Blue Cars echoed through the car from the radio that had been left on.

_“♪ ‘Cause I’m on my way to see her!♪”_

 

Theo turned to his passenger, while slowly coasting the cruiser out of the school parking lot.

 Liam looked like he was going to fall asleep right there in the car.

“Hey, come on. I need you to tell me where we’re going. You can sleep once we get there” he said, while giving the sleepy beta a playful shove.

 

Liam nestled further down into the passenger seat, leaning his head against the window.

“Home” he muttered without opening his eyes.

_“♪ Am I very far now?♪”_

 

With that, Theo started driving towards the direction of the Dunbar-Geyer homestead.

The chimera took a moment to try to change the radio, as the other song ended. He scanned through the empty stations before settling back onto the frequency he had found earlier.

 

_Odd its only picking up this one station_ , he thought to himself. Thinking back to how the pack recalled being able to communicate with Stiles when he was trapped with the Wild Hunt, he made a mental note to see if he could find any other stations once they made it to Liam’s house. He vaguely remembered something about Jenna keeping some of Liam’s grandfather’s amateur radio equipment in the basement somewhere. Not that her son ever showed an interest in the matter. Maybe now they could get some use out of it.

 

The steady bassline and entrancing vocals of Spacehog’s “In the Meantime” began to flow from the speakers as Theo drove, tapping along to the music with his thumb on the steering wheel.

 

_“♪ And in the end we shall achieve in time_

_The thing they call divine ♪”_

 

“Can you turn that down a little?” Liam pleaded from the passenger seat.

 

“Why, is it keeping you up?” Theo grinned, while turning the volume knob up more.

 

_“♪ And when I cry for me I cry for you♪”_

 

“Uggggh” Liam groaned in response. _Trapped in 1996 with Theo Raeken. What could be better?_ He thought to himself sarcastically.

_“♪ Living in the meantime something's gone♪”_

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


End file.
